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Laochalk
The World Tree ''Laochalk'' (Ancient Farwestern: Treeking), the largest tree on this Earth, is the namesake of the House of Laochalk, the ruling house of the Farwestern Forest Empire, headed by the Great Emperor of the Forest at Thousandtrees in the shadow of the World Tree, with the imperial capital of Thousandtrees Town built around them both. The World Tree was planted, grown, and carefully crafted by the wisewyrms, gigantic, sapient, flying dragons who ruled the world during the Age of Terror. As the Age of Terror came to an end, these dragons were hunted down by humans, and their territory began to shrink. By the time of the eruption of Mount Scorpion, just the World Tree remained as a major dragonslair. A century before the eruption, a man had a prophetic vision that the Southern Empire would crumble around him due to some unknown cataclysm. This man set out from his hometown of Kornt or possibly Astelnks, with the goal of learning all that he could about alchemy. He believed that alchemy would become a lost art after the cataclysm, and that by learning it he would preserve it, and would also benefit his descendants by teaching them the practice. Little is known about alchemy in the Southern Empire by the time of Huron Space, but it has been determined that it fell into some of the same trappings of other alchemical traditions: humorism, obsessions with shapes and numbers, as well as the symbol of a self-devouring dragon, snake or phoenix (but no a sphinx like in an Oporosi Mark). The man became one of the first alchemists to ever really understand redstone, though what he wrote about it was lost to time. He became known as the First Alchemist. His son was the Second Alchemist, and the Second Alchemist's daughter was the Third Alchemist. The Third Alchemists finally gave birth to four quadruplet girls. The Four Alchemists, sometimes collectively known as the Fourth Alchemist. The Four Alchemists were in a small village called Gayush, just south of the Claw of Ires when the eruption of Mount Scorpion occured. They received visions of a castle being destroyed in an avalanche by the eruption, and of another castle being smashed apart by trees blown into it, of another castle being flooded in a wyrmwave, and finally of a castle being launched into the sky by the eruption. At once they came to the conclusion that immortality would only be possible for someone in charge of all four castles, which they deemed themselves fit to build. They shared these beliefs with their followers, among whom was a boy named Kalbal, later called Kalbal of the Claw, or Kalbal nok Kosh. Kalbal was an extremely arrogant boy, headstrong and determined beyond belief. He was also cruel, cunning, and conniving. For whatever reason, he got it into his head that the Four Alchemists' prophecy and belief about themselves was clearly meant to be about him, someone they had never even met. His people were raiders, and profited greatly from the chaos following the eruption and Fall of the Southern Empire. Rather than squandering that wealth on whores or alcohol, Kalbal, who was not even a particularly skilled raider, invested in weapons and armor for his men, while they wasted their money. Soon they became the wealthiests raiders in the land, and Kalbal attracted an army of men for himself, whom he was soon able to pay. He kidnapped the Four Alchemists, and tortured them until they fervently believed that he was the prophesized "Castlemaker." His torturer was a childhood friend, a cold, stern man, who shared Kalbal's ambition. He was an effective torturer, and more than that, was among the rising warlord's most-trusted advisors, and commanders. His name was Hololk, and he took on the name of his hometown, Gayush, as his house name. They first built Stonetowers, which during those chaotic times, was the only sign of hope in a dark world. This also attracted thousands of people to Kalbal's cause. Kalbal rallied the people against a common enemy, dragons, whom he derided as the cause of the eruption which caused the chaos. Kalbal did believe this to be the case, but did not personally so much care, as he had profited from the chaos. In reality, he had merely learned from the alchemists that the Laochalk was key to the prophecy coming true. The Battle for the World Tree took years to organize, but ended in a decisive victory Kalbal, who changed his name to Kalbalkosh Laochalk, taking on Laochalk as a house name. Kalbalkosh was a nameless child, beloved of the nameless gods of this Earth. His Four Alchemists were his unintentional finders, and he tortured them until they revealed details of prophetic visions to him. Category:Plants Category:Structures Category:Geography Category:Locations Category:History